Anupam Kher reacts to India’s win at Cannes: ‘Unknown people getting highest honours now’

Veteran Bollywood actor Anupam Kher has reacted to India's glorious run at the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival and said "unknown people" were getting recognition on global platforms now.

At the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, director Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light bagged the Grand Prix award, making it the first Indian film to win the honour. While actor Anasuya Sengupta won the Un Certain Regard Prize for Best Actress for her performance in The Shameless, ace technician Santosh Sivan was honoured with the Pierre Angenieux ExcelLens in Cinematography during the event, and FTII student Chidananda Naik's Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know won La Cinef award at the festival, making it a significant year for Indian cinema.

“Content is very important nowadays. It always was, but now the audience is different. Look at what happened at Cannes – we have two unknown people (Kapadia and Sengupta) getting the highest honours. It’s phenomenal,” Kher said during an interview with News18.

Cannes Film Festival also witnessed Delhi-based fashion influencer Nancy Tyagi making her red carpet debut in a pink ruffled gown with an elaborate train, designed and stitched by herself. Praising her efforts, Kher said, “A Delhi girl walked on the red carpet stitching her own dress. The world is open to creativity – it always was, but now India is open to creativity. What doesn’t touch heart doesn’t make an impact.”

Kher emphasised that audiences are now loving a small film if the content is good. “I think, it’s the end of fakeness.”

Without directly naming them, Kher also took potshots at certain “less-deserving” Bollywood celebrities, saying, “But how long will they get the results? I’ve survived for 43 years because I am a drama student and I worked very hard.”

“So many less deserving people in these 43 years have come and gone. Do you remember who was trending on X, Instagram or otherwise? Do you remember how many films made 200 crores last year? But you will remember a film that touched your heart. Less deserving things happen only for a flash of time,” he added.